Everyone has Secrets
by Ash4
Summary: Max learns something new from a friend.


Title: Everyone has Secrets  
  
Author: Ash (AshletX512@aol.com)  
  
Rating: PG13 (language)  
  
Summary: Max learns something new  
  
Spoilers: Meow and knowledge of Season 2  
  
Archive: If anyone wants it, just ask.  
  
Author's Notes: I just got this idea and decided to run with it. If you read the other fic I posted earlier ("Part of her world") you're ahead of the game, but knowledge of it isn't mandatory. Feedback please!! I could write more if everyone thinks it's good, otherwise, there's no reason to. I haven't had anyone Beta it, so tell me if anything should be changed.  
  
~X~X~X~X~  
  
Max slipped quietly into Logan's apartment through the skylight. He was seated at his computer, working. "Hey" he said, knowing it was her without even looking away from the screen. She stalked over to him, saying nothing. When she didn't respond, he wheeled around to face her. "What's up?"  
  
Still silent, she lunged at him, landing on his lap. She ran her fingers through his hair and pressed her mouth against his. He didn't pull away, leaning into her embrace and matched her movements by running his long fingers through her black tresses. Max took her hands out of his hair to rip open the buttons of his shirt.  
  
*Beep* *Beep*  
  
Max jerked up in her bed, sweating and panting. It was only a dream. A very hot dream, but a dream nonetheless. Then she realized what the dream was about. "Oh god" she said aloud when she realized she was in heat.  
  
*Beep* *Beep*  
  
She reached over to her nightstand and grabbed her pager. It was Logan. There was no way she could go over there now. She couldn't trust herself. Her hormones could drive her out of control and Max knew that any contact with her could kill him. Yet the urge was still there. And the dream. No, she couldn't think of that.  
  
Max jumped out of bed and grabbed her keys. She needed to take a ride around the city to clear her mind.  
  
Feeling the rumble of the bike between her legs used to make the urges of her body subside, but the vibration of the motorcycle now only made them worse. She couldn't resist it last time and she felt herself losing control now. She screeched to a stop, wondering where she had ended up while deep in her thoughts. It didn't take long for Max to realize that she had unconsciously brought herself to Rafer's apartment, where she had spent her night in heat last time.  
  
Her brain said no, but her body ran down the hall towards his room. His door was unlocked, so she entered without knocking. She scanned his apartment, seemingly empty. Around the corner a door was cracked open. She pushed it open quietly and entered. Rafer was sitting at a computer, engrossed in whatever he was doing. Everything in the room seemed new, there were boxes on the floor and she didn't remember this area from the last time she was here, 4 months ago.  
  
But at this point, she didn't care about the new computer, or what seemed to be a chemistry station, Max just noticed that Rafer was only wearing boxers.  
  
"Hey" she said, startling him.  
  
He jumped and turned around. "Max." He seemed as if he was about to ask questions, but then stopped and smiled coyly. As if he knew why she was here.  
  
Max should have wondered why he seemed so knowing, but was already slipping off her shoes and jacket and began to pull him towards the next room, the bedroom. Rafer dropped the papers he was studying and followed her.  
  
Rafer grabbed a condom out of his nightstand drawer before jumping on the bed next to Max, who was removing what was left of her clothes. He was barely settled in the bed when she pounced on him.  
  
~X~X~  
  
"Oh shit." Max muttered as she rolled out of the bed in the morning. She had done it again, let her hormones take control. She slipped on her clothes from last night and made her way to the other room, where her shoes should be.  
  
As she was lacing up her boot, Max noticed that she was stepping on some of Rafer's papers. She had no intention on snooping, but became aware of the letterhead on the paper as she picked it up and laid it on the desk. It was a lion. Manticore.  
  
About 5 seconds later, Rafer received a wake-up call of a punch to the face. Max leaped on him and stared into his shocked face with a glare of hatred. "Who the fuck are you?"  
  
Rafer noticed the piece of paper she was still clutching and sighed. She had his arms pinned to the bed, but he used all his force to push off on her stomach with his feet. It worked, and Max went sprawling backwards. Rafer scrambled up into a sitting position, knowing he would be at a disadvantage if he were lying down. "Look, Max, I'll explain, but I really don't feel like getting the shit kicked out me before I do."  
  
"Well I guess we have different ideas then." She spat back, grabbing him by the neck and throwing him against the nearest wall.  
  
Through all the pain, Rafer smiled. "You know, you're not that much different when you're angry than you are when you're horny." He knew he said the wrong thing when he got a swift kick to the stomach.  
  
"I'm still deciding if I should hear your explanation or if I should just kill you." She said, drawing closer to him.  
  
Huddled against the wall, Rafer still held his cool and showed no fear. "You could, but you'd only be hurting yourself."  
  
"And how's that? I could find any other guy to fuck."  
  
Rafer flinched. That hurt. "That's not what I mean."  
  
"So what do you mean?" she asked, and as if on cue, Max started shuddering. About ten seconds later, she collapsed on the floor, seizing. When Rafer was sure Max was incapacitated, he jumped up and ran out of the room. Max saw him come back a minute later with syringe full of orange liquid. "Get away from me you bastard." She called out but couldn't stop him. He drew closer, then leaned in and injected it into her arm. Max was surprised at what she saw in his face. It was a look of genuine concern. Before slipping into unconsciousness, Max decided she really did want to hear his explanation.  
  
~X~X~X~  
  
For the second time today, Max awoke and jerked up in Rafer's bed. But this time she found herself constrained, her hands and ankles were bound to bed. Rafer entered the room when he heard her movement. "Good morning, sleepy head." She frowned at his cheeriness, as he sat down on the bed next to her, smiling.  
  
"Sorry, but I'm not in the mood right now." She told him, struggling with her bonds.  
  
Rafer shook his head. "Don't worry. Getting punched in the face and slammed against a wall kinda kills the sex drive. I just wanted to be able to talk without getting a concussion."  
  
She stopped fidgeting. "You have my attention. Talk."  
  
"Everyone has secrets, Max. It just happens that yours and mine just intertwine. I've been thinking about telling you ever since I first saw you about 4 months ago, but I could never find the words. I'm still having trouble. Let's start with the letter you found." He held it up to her. "It's addressed to Dr. Daniel Rafer. He was my father. He worked at Manticore since the beginning. He was one of the head research guys, he knew everything about everything. He wanted me to be his protégé. When I was younger he used to take me to work with him. He showed me what he wanted me to know. I watched the surveillance cameras, watched you. But I never expected anything devious about Manticore's work." Rafer seemed to be embarrassed of his past. Through this he could not look at Max. He finally turned to her to see if she was still listening.  
  
"So you're working for them? Getting information on me?"  
  
"No. Just let me finish." Rafer turned to face the wall again, remembering. "I ran away when I was 17. I finally actually realized what Manticore was doing. Before I thought.well I didn't know anything was wrong. I came here when I left home. I haven't seen my mother or father since."  
  
"So you came here to run away from your past. Amazing how much we have in common." Max said sarcastically. "Then how did you end up with Manticore papers?"  
  
"It's not just papers. I have a whole lab and everything they had put on computers. It's my father's work. He died in the fire. My mother shipped his home lab to me. It's all there. Manticore's research in a nutshell. You might have noticed it all last night if you weren't so driven by your hormones. It's amazing what they improved on while we weren't there. For example, what I injected you with, it's Tryptopiphan. It's a replacement for Tryptophan. You won't have seizures any more."  
  
Max wondered if this was true. "I thought you wanted to run away from Manticore. Why are you going through the research?"  
  
Rafer looked at her again, with the same amount of concern as before. "I want to be able to help you. I know your life is hard. I want to make it easier."  
  
Max was deep in thought wondering if his story was true. If it was, would he be able to help her kill the virus keeping her from Logan? She was so in her own world she didn't realize he was taking off her bonds.  
  
"You're free to go. But I really want to show you something I found in your file. It's really important."  
  
~X~X~X~X~  
  
end 1/?  
  
This is all I have for now, but the amount/quality of the reviews I read will determine if I write more (hint hint). So hit that little white button down there and tell me what you think! 


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